Apple iPhone sales expected to fall by a tenth in the first quarter of 2016

Apple production cut rumours grow with research suggesting iPhone sales will drop this year

The growth in sales of Apple iPhones has plateaued and will fall by up to one-tenth in the first quarter of 2016, according to research.

Growth fell to a "single-digit percentage" in the last quarter of 2015, and will start to drop in the current quarter after weaker than expected sales of the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus.

That is the conclusion of Digitimes Research, the Taiwan-based electronics industry daily newspaper. It follows reports of production cuts of the iPhone at Foxconn, Apple's main contract manufacturer, and the payment of subsidies to the company to help it negotiate the downturn.

Digitimes suggests that part of the reason for the slowdown is simply due to satiated demand following a surge in sales when the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were launched by Apple in 2014. "Consequently, combined iPhone shipments for the fourth quarter of 2015 and the first quarter of 2016 are likely to lie within a range of 5 per cent up or down as compared to combined shipments the same period of a year earlier," concluded the report.

It also suggested that there is a growing supply glut emerging, with more Apple devices being produced than are being sold.

"Digitimes Research also found that there was a significant gap between the production volume of iPhone 6s and 6s Plus by OEM suppliers, and the sales volume of these devices by Apple for the third quarter of 2015 (Apple's fiscal fourth quarter of 2015). As a result, a total of 13-to-15 million iPhone 6s devices will be booked as deferred sales by Apple for the fourth quarter of 2015 (Apple's fiscal first-quarter 2016," it added.

The research from Digitimes comes after newswire reports earlier this week that the company was preparing to cut production of its latest devices by up to one-third.